Judge wants written arguments in probable cause case

TRENTON — A judge wants written arguments from both sides on the probable cause that led to the arrest of two Trentonians minutes after they allegedly pulled an armed robbery in Hamilton in May of 2011.

Mercer County Superior Court Judge Pedro Jimenez has to decide if not reacting at all to the glare of a spotlight was reason enough for a cop to stop the suspects — as well as how an earlier, now disputed, theft of the alleged getaway car figures into the case.

The judge ordered Assistant Mercer Prosecutor Al Garcia and defense lawyers Ron Garzio and Laura Yaede to have the legal briefs ready for him by May 31, and that he’ll issue a decision on June 3.

For suspects Peter Nyema and Garzio client Jamar Myers, both 20, the decision could mean the difference between long prison terms and freedom on the grounds the police case was made on weak probable cause.

Under cross examination from the defense, Sgt. Mark Horan of the Hamilton police stuck to his story that he was shining the spotlight inside oncoming cars stopped at a light as he drove to a reported robbery at the 7-Eleven on Arena Drive shortly after midnight on May 7, 2011.

Horan seemed a bit exasperated by the time Garcia, on rebuttal, had him explain again why he stopped the silver Toyota three minutes after the heist just down Arena from the scene that morning.

He told of turning the spotlight on his cruiser into the cab of a car holding three black men across the roadway: “And there was no response to the shining light. They didn’t act like ‘What happened?’ They acted as though I simply was not there.”

Horan said the three sat perfectly still, looking only straight ahead as he shined the light on each of them — unlike most people.

“You usually get the usual reactions when you do this: People get alarmed, annoyed, angry. Usually it’s something.”

So the suspects and driver Ajene Drew, whose case is being handled separately, were stopped for questioning about the robbery on probable cause their lawyers now reject.

They want to judge to toss out the evidence, including $585 believed stolen from the till as well as the handgun officers found on the battery in the engine compartment of the Toyota, which had been borrowed from Nyema’s father.

In his testimony, Horan noted that none of the men were handcuffed until a check of the registration showed the Toyota had been stolen two days before off Tremont Street in Trenton’s South Ward. They were charged with the robbery later that morning.

Suspect Nyema’s father, Josephus Nyema, took the stand to dispute the official Trenton police report on the car theft. He said he did not remember calling a Trenton cop to report the car missing.

Hamilton police also made the stop that night in part because the car came up stolen in computer records from Trenton, and Garcia brought in Trenton Officer William Mulshire to testify that he took the report on the stolen Toyota himself and has the senior Nyema’s information recorded in it.